A drug ending in the suffix (navir) is considered a ______.

The correct answer is B. Protease inhibitor. Drugs ending in -navir are protease inhibitors, a class of antiretroviral medications used to treat HIV/AIDS by blocking the HIV protease enzyme, which the virus needs to cleave polyprotein precursors into functional proteins - without it, the virus cannot replicate. The…

Principles of Therapeutics

Question

Options

AAntidepressant
BProtease inhibitor
CBeta antagonist
DH antagonist

How the community answered

(38 responses)

A
5% (2)
B
82% (31)
C
11% (4)
D
3% (1)

Explanation

Drugs ending in -navir are protease inhibitors, a class of antiretroviral medications used to treat HIV/AIDS by blocking the HIV protease enzyme, which the virus needs to cleave polyprotein precursors into functional proteins - without it, the virus cannot replicate.

The distractors are incorrect because: antidepressants use suffixes like -pine, -ine, or -zine (e.g., fluoxetine, amitriptyline); beta antagonists (beta-blockers) end in -olol (e.g., metoprolol, atenolol); and H2 antagonists (histamine blockers) end in -tidine (e.g., ranitidine, famotidine).

Memory tip: Think "navir = nails HIV" - the -navir suffix nails down HIV replication by inhibiting its protease. Real-world examples include ritonavir, lopinavir, and saquinavir.

Topics

#drug nomenclature#protease inhibitors#antiretroviral therapy#pharmacology

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